No New Classics and ‘Same Old, Same Old’ with our Competition Marches, Strathspeys and Reels

I suspect that what I write will attract comments from others who do not share my opinion. I hope we can have an interesting dialogue.  GS McLennan, John MacColl, Willie Lawrie, Roddy Campbell, where have you gone?  We miss your music, your composing genius. (That’s MacColl’s masterpiece, Dugald MacColl’s Farewell to France, in the composer’s hand above.) By Dale Brown Today’s new music seems concentrated on hornpipes and jigs.  Admittedly, they often…

WW2 Piping: As the Battles Raged Abroad the Music Continued at Home

On the Home Front, many pipers who were either too old or two young for service in the forces, or who were in reserved occupations, joined the Home Guard and many pipe bands were formed within that organisation.   John Seton served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders during the First World War and afterwards joined the Glasgow Police. For many years he was the Drum Major of the police band….

Review: ‘Jimmy – Memoirs of My Life as A Piper’ by James H McIntosh MBE

When I was asked to review this book of Jimmy McIntosh’s reminiscences, I was delighted to be able to read the story of one of piping’s modern legends. This was the man who was the first Glenfiddich champion, still playing ‘pibroc’h en bord de la mer’ at Cancale in his 90s, a teacher of my teacher, Tom Speirs. I should also declare one other interest – my own father was…

Editor’s Notebook: Pipe Band Season/ Cameron Kirk/ Kids Pipes/ James’s Album/ Northern Meeting 1971

I am told that the form the 2022 pipe band season will take will be decided at a Board of Directors meeting prior to the online RSPBA AGM on March 12. The fact that the AGM itself is online is a worry, although I can see the benefits of the wider reach it gives the Association. A frisson of fear runs through the spine when, on checking the RSPBA calendar,…

New Contest to Honour the Memory of James Campbell, Kilberry

James Campbell had at least two discrete sets of ardent followers. To some, he was a doyen of the piobaireachd world, the son of Archibald Campbell of The Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr (who knew all of the tunes in that book off by heart) and a once regular judge of competition. To others he was a superb academic lawyer and much-loved Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, where hetaught Roman…